Official investigation launched into Tripadvisor

The UK’s Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has launched an official investigation into Tripadvisor website following a growing amount of criticism of its apparent failure to monitor the number of fake reviews being posted online.

A report in the Daily Mail said the inquiry was opened after a complaint that 'abuse, flaws and distortion' on the TripAdvisor website had reached 'epidemic levels'.

Online reputation management company KwikChex.com complained to the ASA after receiving more than 2,000 requests from hospitality companies suffering from review fraud.

KwikChex.com said that of the 50 million reviews posted are more than a year old, making them out of date; and estimates that of the 25 million left, up to 20% of them could be fake.